Change of Attitude and use of Natural Resources in the Pacific North

Change of Attitude and use of Natural Resources in the Pacific North

The reality of degradation of the environment in the Northern part of America has been an issue for the past decades.  For instance, the state of the Columbia River is a prototype of the discourse about climate change as it presents a case where an entire region has experienced systematic collapse. The said “progress” or the advanced civilization, as well as technology, brought changes in the attitudes of the local people towards the use of the river. Also, north Colombia presents the twist of power and places where, due to power play, places were turned into hostile environments. Additionally, Mount Rainier National Park legislation presents a community’s dilemma between the preservation of natural resources or economic development. The arrival of European in the North West region and the political, social, and economic aspects of their interaction changed the native people’s attitudes and uses of natural resources.

Human history and natural history are perpetually entangled in a codependent relationship. However, these ties have turned to be irreversible through the attitude and logic of overconsumption and commodification by the human society who carry out such atrocities under the umbrella of capitalism and neoliberalism (White, 1995). The small scale activities and the attitudes of the local communities have some degree of impact on the lives of the people living along the river banks as well as the community at large. Before the arrival of the Europeans, the people in North West Colombia degraded nature through inconsequential capitalistic activities. Still, the arrival of the Europeans in the North West changed their attitude toward neoliberalism. The United States government, through the arrival of the European in the region in the late 1700s and the early 1900s, systematically marginalized these local communities.

The Europeans wanted to further their political imperatives for the North West region.  The state of the Columbia River began to collapse with the corporate as well as the unsustainable overfishing, pollution of the river by humans, and construction of dams (White, 1995). These activities led to the scarcity of salmon, a significant resource for the native communities living along the Columbia River banks.

Additionally, apart from the considerable degradation, pollution, and harm caused to the rivers and other natural resources, the natural resources have been used as sources of energy and economic development for the people. For instance, the Columbia River has been utilized for the storage of energy. The imposition of dams to store the water from the river has interrupted the natural as well as the continuous flow of the kinetic energy (White, 1995). Not only the Columbia River but most rivers in the United States are used to produce human energy. As the interaction of the whites and the native people intensified, the river became more populated as well as developed. The development did not consider the river a precious natural resource but as a significant energy source for meeting their needs. The river used to power the canoes of the natives, but it is now forced to power the hydroelectric dam that supplies energy to its oppressors.

Further, Natural resources such as the Columbia River, Colombia villages, and Mount Rainier National Park have been capitalized and converted into profitable ventures for humans. Here the natural aspects of these resources have been underappreciated, overlooked as well as forgotten. White states that the interaction between people along the river was “not just physical; it was social and political” (White 1995, pg14). Hence, the political, social, and physical interaction forced the development of the region as well as the spread of neoliberal and economic ideas to the region. According to White (1995), prior to the arrival of the Europeans, the Colombia River had an extreme force and power, making it impossible to sail across it. This aspect forced people to travel along with it, which caused increased encounters between the natives and the Europeans. Their attitudes towards natural resources changed as they perceived natural resources as sources of economic gain. As a result, the salmons went from being the ritualistic and sacred acquisition for the native people of the northern region to a Capitalistic commodity for profit. Additionally, people used both the powers of organic nature and that of man (machines) to harness energy for society.

According to Ronda (1999), the most compelling stories begin with places but not with people. The journey of Coboways is a tale of power and places and how these places are turned into hostile environments. He goes further to narrate how two centuries ago, North Colombia was a beautiful place with sandy shallows as well as pounding breakers. Rond described it as ‘a perfect Indian paradise in its adaptation to canoe travel, and the abundance of scale and shell-fish” (Rond 1999, pg. 3-22). Moreover, the villages were doing well and were known as places “where there is pounded salmon”(Rond 1999, pg. 3). However, when the lines of power, as well as the meaning, were taken by the federal city life in the village became all about labor and energy drawn from the fish and the river. As a result of the exchange of power, the fortune of the people slid downward. The weather began changing unceremoniously, and businesses became clouded with uncertainty.

Similar to Coboway’s tale, the difference in interest and attitudes between the people in the Pacific Northwest caused the economic benefits of the region to supersede the preservation of the natural resources. The diverse interest groups in the Pacific Northwest successfully collaborated in campaigning for the Mount Rainier National Park legislation. The groups wanted preservation of the highest as well as the most glaciated and massive mountain in the northwest of pacific. Also, they desired preservation of the “some of the largest Douglas fir and cedar trees in the region” (Catton, 1997, pg 70). The most critical aspect for the region that needed preservation is the remarkable variety of flora and fauna. Despite the people who wanted the park to be a source of preservation of their natural resources, there emerged others who were more concerned with the relationship of the national park to the development of the area. The later side of the debate for legislation of the park desired growth of tourism, protection of the mining and grazing and interests, conservation of water sources for irrigation.

Instead of focusing solely on their preservation agenda, the preservationists considered the economic and development ideas of the latter group. They allowed the economic development agenda to be included in their agenda by stating that it “was good economic policy because the land showed little potential for agriculture, stock raising, or mining” (Catton, 1997, pg 70-81). This strategy was a cynical move that would not root for the preservation of the mountain and other natural phenomena around it but support the economic development of the region. Hence, the rhetoric of worthless lands controlled the size, as well as the shape of the national parks. It also permitted the national parks, including Mount Rainier National Park, to be used to benefit the community economically (Catton, 1997).  As a result, the boundaries of the proposed national parks excluded all lands where gold, coal, and other valuable minerals could occur. The park was to feature only the scenic beauty but not infringe on the interests of the miners and the settlers. With all its flaws, the Mount Rainier National Park Act was signed and put into law. This move indicates that the economic gain of the region had suppressed the conservation efforts of the people.

The Colombia River, Colombia villages, and Mount Rainier National Park are organic machines that signify the natural, unchangeable purpose of freely existing abstractly from the intervention of humans. Hence, the Colombia river or any other organic machine such as the north Colombia villages, and the Pacific Northwest region of Colombia harboring the Mount Rainier National Park desire to move energy optimally and naturally through the world. However, the interference from humans taxes the machination of these natural resources causing pollution, degradation, and harm to these natural resources. The change in attitude due to economic, political, social, and physical factors caused the people to bring damage, pollution, and destruction to these natural resources. As a result, there are adverse effects such as climate change and a more severe case of the systematic collapse of the entire North West region. Therefore, these factors should work together to preserve the environment and eliminate systemic collapse, climate change, and other adverse effects on the people of the region.

References

Catton, T. (1997). The Campaign to Establish Mount Rainier National Park, 1893-1899. Pacific Northwest Quarterly, 88(2), 70-81.

Ronda, J. (1999). Coboway’s Tale: A Story of Power and Places Along the Columbia. In R. White, & J. M.Findlay, Power and Place in the North American West (pp. 3-22). Seattle: University of Washington Press.

White, R. (1995). The Organic Machine: The Remaking of the Columbia River. New York: Hill and Wang.